


Time Travel Never Ends Well

by Theony (lilylunablack)



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Child Neglect, Gen, Howard Stark Comes Back From the Dead, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, I dont know why he just does, Natasha Is a Good Bro, Natasha Worries, Overworked Tony, Past Child Abuse, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony-centric, not a particularly happy ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-24 03:37:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10733346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilylunablack/pseuds/Theony
Summary: Howard Stark appears in a SHIELD interrogation room and they called in Tony to talk to him.That goes as well as anyone might imagine, which is to say, not at all.





	Time Travel Never Ends Well

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I've been working on this for a while now (and there's more to it, I just need to write the ending and post that) and I'm sick of seeing it not posted. Anyway, it's really short and kinda badly written, but I hope you like it. Please if there are any error, point them out to me in the comments.  
> Also, I posted this on my fanfiction account: DinMazy

Tony was in the middle of a new project for Stark Industries for more efficient medical screenings in emergency rooms. He had been working on it for about 6 hours and was starting to get a bit drowsy. The particulars of it would be hashed out later, but he had an  _ almost  _ working model.The board had been getting a bit antsy lately and kept hounding him for new schematics.

Although Pepper handled a lot of the inner business runnings, he still had to go to meetings, do a lot of financials and paperwork, and invent new things for the board. They asked about every two months or so. He had a couple of years of inventions backlogged that he would give them, but they still needed to be kept up to date with recent tech. 

The model and schematics were due for the next board meeting, which was in 2 days. Finishing it wouldn't take that long, but he wanted to make sure that it wouldn't malfunction before he demoed it in front of the board. After he finished that, he had 4 other critical projects to do. Between the workload of SI, Shield, the Avengers, and his own personal projects, Tony was getting behind on sleep. He was fine for now, though he was just about killing his system with coffee. Sleep was going to be necessary eventually, but he had too much to do before then. Hopefully, nothing else got added on.

As if on command, the phone rang. He told JARVIS to pause his music and took a quick glance at the name before answering. “My dearest one-eyed pirate, what can I do for you?”

Tony could almost see the eye roll. “Look, Stark, I don't have time for your goddamn games. There’s a situation that needs your attention, so get your ass over here now.” Fury’s voice was controlled, but Tony could detect a note of tension underneath. 

Slightly curious now, Tony drawled. “I'm a very busy man, Fury, it's gonna take more than a broken computer to get a space in my schedule.” It wasn't a lie, his work was piling up by the day and if he dawdled too long Pepper was definitely going to yell at him, but he did have a little leeway.

“Whatever you're working on can wait.” Fury snapped before he hung up.

“Actually, it can't,” Tony muttered to himself. He set his phone down before looking over the mostly made project. JARVIS’ voice came overhead, “Should I shut down the systems, Sir?” He rubbed his eyes tiredly and decided he would finish the model before he left and would test it later.

“Not yet, J, we’re going to let him stew for a bit.”

“How very thoughtful of you, Sir,” JARVIS said amusedly and resumed the music.

***

“Nice of you to finally show up.” Fury scowled at him when Tony entered the room. He fought off the urge to rub his temples, there was a serious headache brewing. Did the director really think at this was his only responsibility? Nevertheless, he smirked.

“Well, I'm here now,” Tony said as he sat down in the closest chair and leaned back. “So, what exactly is this ‘situation’?” He noted the expressions around the room quickly. Rogers looked shocked and a bit pale, Natasha was tense and was watching him closely, Barton didn’t look like he cared, and Bruce’s face was hidden as he was working calculations. 

Rogers glanced at Fury, “You haven't told him?”

Tony lost his playful appearance at once. “Told me what?” The pain in his head mounted up a notch.

“We found Howard Stark in an interrogation room yesterday.” His heart skipped a beat and he stilled minutely, too small for the others to notice. It felt like a rug had been pulled out from under him while he was already drunk and dizzy, and he was left trying to catch himself on a nearby table. His father was here? That was impossible. If there was a way, Tony would have gotten rid of it a long time ago.

“I'm sorry,  _ what? _ ” Tony raised his eyebrow. “I must have heard you wrong-”

“You heard right, Stark.” Fury interrupted with a glare. “Now, are you going to throw a fit or make yourself useful?”

Tony shook his head in disbelief. “So my father just appears in a room and you don't think it's a trap or that, maybe, it's not even him? And why were they told before I was?” He gestured at the team indignantly.

“You were late.” Fury deadpanned. “If you want to be kept in the know, you should get here on time.” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “Some of us have jobs that don’t entail as much free time as you want. Are you sure that it’s him?” He asked again.

“They already did the tests, it’s Howard Stark.” This time it was Bruce that replied. He looked up from his calculations to watch what was going on. 

Tony let out a sigh. He brought up his hand to pinch at the bridge of his nose. It didn’t alleviate the headache at all. After a moment, he asked abruptly, “So why am I here?”

Moments passed, then Natasha finally spoke up. “We thought he’d appreciate a familiar face.” The twist of her lips showed that she didn’t agree, but chose to answer anyway. She looked at him regretfully but didn’t falter. 

She’s been openly staring at him for a while now, it was more than a little weird if you asked him. It was almost like she was  _ concerned  _ about him or something. He looked away. 

“I haven’t seen him since I was seventeen, he probably won’t recognize me. If you wanted someone familiar you should have Cap go in.” His tone took on a bitter edge.

Barton cut in, “We can’t send Steve in until we know what your father knows. That’s where you come in. He’s most likely to talk to you.” Tony was about to tell him how wrong he was when someone else spoke.

Rogers sighed wistfully. “Most of us would love to talk to a parent again, at least you have the chance to. Your father was a great man, Tony, you must miss him.” He could see Rogers’ sincerity in the statement and his hope that he would be able to talk to Howard. There was an overwhelming sense of bitterness growing inside Tony. Why did  _ he  _ get the best side of Howard when all Tony got was disappointment and anger?

His irritation was making him shorter with the team than normal, but he couldn’t care less at the moment. “I’d say that I appreciated the effort, but honestly, I don't know why in the hell you’d think that I want to see my dad.”

“Stark!” Fury barked. “That’s enough. We need the intel so you are going in.”

Tony stifled his annoyance and glowered at the director. “Since you asked so nicely.” This was going to be an even longer day than he thought.


End file.
